For months now, council has been discussing the possibility of hiring private security or extending bylaw officers’ hours, during the summer, to cover the overnight hours, when bylaw officers currently don’t work.

However, when the issue came up at council on Monday. Instead of voting to implement overnight security, council voted to seek additional information about the cost of private security.

So now, if approved, that extra overnight staffing won’t start until next summer.

The mayor admitted that the concern that the summer would be over before council makes a decision on extra summer security is “legitimate,” but defended city council’s approach, arguing councillors are trying to be responsible defenders of the public purse.

“These things take time, all these expenditures are in the tens of thousands of dollars,” Cumming said.

“If they are seeing caution, yes, councils do use caution before expending significant money.”